Painted Black
by Quiterie
Summary: Regulus Black has been set a task by the dark lord; to discover his secret completely in 365 days. With all hope lost, Regulus asks Merlin for a miracle. Merlin gives him Hermione Granger. HG/RB AU.
1. Prologue

**PAINTED BLACK -PROLOGUE  
**

Regulus Black has been set a task by the dark lord; to discover his secret completely in 365 days. With all hope lost, Regulus asks Merlin for a miracle. Merlin gives him Hermione Granger. HG/RB AU.

* * *

"_When hope fades, all we can do is hope for a miracle."_

The dark paneled room would have made for an incredibly spacious and comfortable study, had it not been for the darkness in which it was usually kept. The beautifully polished oak was all in the best state, however it seemed like the curtains to the room were always drawn, as if they wanted to keep something, or some idea in or out.

There was little light within the study as well; only a small candle, half-way finished, emitting a soft, low light. It was hardly the type of light needed for a study, however the man slumped over the chair at the desk did not seem to care at all. In fact, he was simply watching the candle's flame dance, his head resting on the desktop. His eyes were sunken, and he looked like he had not slept in several days, still, his concentration on the candle did not waver.

The only noise present in the study was a soft ticking noise of a clock, but the man did not seem to notice that either.

_Tick…tick…tick…_

The desktop was empty, except for an inkpot, a quill and a piece of parchment which had few choice words carefully inscribed on it _'closer to cheating death than any other, for I plan to live forever.'_ The man continued to stare at the candle, which was losing height by the minute. Voices reeled in his head, blocking out the quiet ticking sound of the grandfather clock.

'_Your three hundred and sixty five days start today, Mr. Black, I would suggest you start formulating and solving.'_

That voice hadn't left Regulus much of a choice, now had it?

* * *

"_Ah good, Regulus. Punctual as usual." The dark lord kept his back turned to the young man, although he was pacing back and forth slightly. Regulus had felt the burn of his dark mark only a few minutes before when he had been with Bellatrix. She smiled a cool Bellatrix smile; the one of pride and of slight jealousy. Regulus knew that Rudolphus had always been green about the fact that Bella was so dedicated to the dark lord, but only a fool wouldn't hold his tongue._

_Finally, Voldemort turned to look at Regulus, who hadn't moved from the position that he had entered the room in. He found it easy to be so statuesque around these people; no one had really made hum jump since Sirius, although mentioning that fact to anyone in his family considered 'worth his time' was tabooed. _

"_Regulus, I have a proposition for you, something very important that must be completed in the greatest of secrecies."_

'_Proposition' when used by Voldemort meant anything but the actual dictionary reference. It meant, like almost everything that came out of the dark lord's mouth that you did it, or you would face the consequence of death._

_Voldemort didn't wait for Regulus to respond, but rather, paused for his own dramatic effect. "You see, I have in my possession a terrible secret that, should it fall into the wrong hands could be very dangerous for me. No one is more powerful that I, but alas, with the right resources, someone such as Albus Dumbledore could prove to be quite the threat."_

_Regulus had expected him to ask him to destroy it, or bring it back to him so that he could deal with it as necessary. After these few moments however, Regulus learned quickly to never expect anything. Things happened in their own way, and nothing was going to stop that._

"_Now my secret, for the moment, is still completely safe. However, if Dumbledore was ever to…catch wind or haggle a guess as to what it might be…well, I would prefer to think that it would still remain safe."_

_Regulus still said nothing. The dark lord tended to take his time getting around to things, most of the death eaters noticed it as part of his charm to use his eloquence to wrap people in, so once they finally found out what they were doing, nothing else was in their minds._

"_Regulus, you are perhaps, one of the most intelligent death eaters I have, and although I would be the likely candidate as far as that test, I cannot complete this task myself. Therefore, I think it is best for you to handle this affair for me." Voldemort stepped forward, and drew one long pale finger down Regulus' cheek._

"_It is an honour to serve my lord."_

_Voldemort stepped back, and smiled – as well as his body form could. It was more of a satisfied look than a smile; knowing he could still force others to bend to his will in order to find his ends. _

_Voldemort passed over a piece of paper of Regulus, which had one simple phrase._

'Closer to cheating death than any other, for I plan to live forever.'

"_My secret is simply this, Mr. Black, and I will give you one year, that is, 365 days to completely decipher it. Should you fail, I will know that if Dumbledore is alerted to my plan, I shall have enough time to properly act to protect it. In 365 days, I shall see what you have obtained, although I do expect everything from my secret to be in your possession, or within quick attainability for that meeting. Do not attempt to pretend that my security is strong enough…if you should fail with this I will see to it that the consequences are quite dire."_

_The way Regulus was viewing this little 'proposal' he seemed very screwed either way._

"_Your 365 days, or one year if you prefer, begin now."_

_Regulus knew a dismissal when he heard one; he bowed and muttered my lord. This would be interesting._

* * *

The flame of the candle started to flicker lower, and lower.

Regulus glanced at the clock. His 350 days had just turned into 349, and he was no closer than he had been at 365. The way that Regulus understood this proposal, death was waiting for him at either door. Should he discover the dark lord's secret, Voldemort would deem him too dangerous to be kept around, and he would be disposed of, maybe if he was lucky even by Voldemort himself! Regulus let out a bark-like laugh bitterly at the last thought.

Should he fail to discover the dark lord's secret, he would be deemed as a failure, because to Regulus it was quite obvious that even if Voldemort would not admit it, the dark lord feared greatly what Dumbledore could do. Failure to do what was commanded as a death eater led down the same path as the other; death, however, probably a more brutal one, merely preformed by someone such as Bellatrix.

She wouldn't hesitate at all to kill Regulus for Voldemort; he was her king, and she was the most loyal vassal any monarch could hope for. In a way, it saddened him greatly, because he remembered exactly who Bella used to be.

Regulus looked over at the candle, which was flickering dangerously low. He made no move to get a new one, but simply stared at it.

_Tick…tick…tick…_

Any path he took this year would lead him to the very same end.

He looked back down at the paper.

'_Closer to cheating death than any other, for I plan to live forever.'_

'_Closer to cheating death than any other, for I plan to live forever.'_

'_Closer to cheating death than any other, for I plan to live forever.'_

Nothing seemed to make sense; the words jumbled in places they shouldn't and even simple sentences couldn't form coherently in his brain. It was almost as if Voldemort had confounded the paper, although that seemed incredibly unlikely. Nothing seemed plausible; a philosopher's stone allowed you to live forever, however, it was hardly original, as the first section of the line suggested. Any other methods of elongating life, or avoiding being murdered seemed completely out of the question, especially when it came to originality, or 'further along the path' because they were all tested out by previous people.

The candle was barely glowing.

With a sigh, Regulus licked his fingers and deadened the wick, leaving him the complete darkness of the study.

Regulus Black had never prayed for anything in his life. In the cold black of his study, he started to pray to Merlin for a miracle.

Little did he know, Merlin was listening. And Hermione Granger was definitely a miracle.

* * *

No one had expected the battle to take such a sour turn. The order members had been advancing quickly on the death eaters, luck clearly on their side. However, it seemed, in a moment, everything changed. With a triumphant stroke of luck, the death eater who had been dueling Mad-Eye Moody made a break, and the green light was everything anyone needed to know.

With the fall of a great hero, the battle took a terrible turn for the worse. With its back against the wall, the previously energized order was pushed back into a corner, and unlike a cat who was most dangerous at that point, they seemed to be failing. Hermione Granger was in the back of them all, a few encircling her as she worked in a final attempt to break down the anti-apparation guards.

"They're down Harry, go!" With a proud and thankful smile, Harry yelled the final retreat orders. Little did he know, Hermione wasn't listening.

Once the rest had disappeared, the death eaters closed in, easily, knowing what Hermione had, and what Harry hadn't; she had to stay to make sure that the guards stay down, which meant that herself apparating away was impossible.

"A bold sacrifice, it's too bad you're mudblood filth." Hermione was surprised to have even gotten a compliment such as that.

"Let's just get this over with." She was going to die. That was inevitable. Bellatrix gave a terrifying laugh.

"You don't deserve it quick and easy mudblood filth, no, this will be quite entertaining." She raised her wand and then paused, looking down at her left forearm. She sneered.

"You're lucky mudblood, the Dark Lord wants us." Her baby voice was really starting to irk Hermione. She had to make this sacrifice; for the order, but more importantly, for Harry. "Goodnight, filth."

It had been quite different than Hermione had expected; no pain, like she would have had if it was a muggle death. It was quite instantaneous actually, just as quick as the green light had ended, so had she.

Bellatrix spat on the ground, and turned to leave, quite unaware of what she had actually done.

Hermione had often wondered, especially after she had been involved with the grand adventures of Harry Potter, what it would feel like to die. If there was truly a heaven, or if there was just blank eternity, and she was just another droplet in the huge ocean to be forgotten amongst the rest.

"_You can't die yet my dear; you've got work to do. Everyone deserves a second chance at life, but you're the lucky one who gets it."_

The small voice had whispered in her ear from nowhere. Her head was pounding, and when she blinked once, she was quite aware that her surroundings were not familiar. She tried to move her arm into a more comfortable position, but it seemed as if she couldn't. Hermione blinked again, and the room came into focus. She was tied neatly to a chair, in an extremely dark paneled room. Across it, once she blinked again, she noticed the outline of a man sitting in a chair.

"Some light perhaps?" He snapped his fingers once, and the torches on the walls flared on. Hermione blinked again, and things came into focus once more. The man was dark haired, with striking bone structure and handsome features, even if he looked like he hadn't slept in days. He was twirling a wand between his fingers, which Hermione quickly recognized as her own.

"Who the hell are you?" It was very likely she should have been more polite, but her pounding headache didn't leave much in her for pleasantries.

"Why the hell are you in my study then?" He seemed every bit as confused as her, even if he was attempting to hide it.

"I don't know, I'm supposed to be _dead_."

Oh yes; expect the unexpected.

* * *

**Well, I'd love to know what you guys think of this, it's just a base idea, and I've got a plan for where this story will go, and actually, I already know how it's going to end pretty much, which is always a good thing. Any comments are wonderful. (:**

**Lots of love!**

**QUITERIE -**


	2. One

**PAINTED BLACK - ONE**

* * *

"Dead?" Regulus had simply been staring at the girl for that last few moments, unable to get any words out. "But that's… impossible."

"No really? I thought that I had the ability to survive the killing curse, hanging around with 'the chosen one' tends to give you inflated ideas." Regulus glared at her (although she couldn't see it in the dim light, it was rather obvious). Hermione continued on, unperturbed.

"She's said it enough times; it's not as if Bellatrix Lestrange could foul up _Avada Kedavra_." That snapped Regulus' mind back into focus. His annoyed and confused nature quickly turned to anger. Although he and Bella didn't get on as well as they had when they were younger, she was still family.

"Such dangerous people; you shouldn't be making commentary on them as you are." The words were extremely clipped. Hermione snorted.

"Why should you care? It's not as if…" Hermione's mouth formed the shape of a perfect 'o'. "Are you a Black…not Sirius he would have been…are you _Regulus_ Black?"

Regulus's fury evaporated into complete and utter confusion. How in the name of Merlin did she know who he was, when he had absolutely no idea who she was? Of course, the Blacks were a well known family, but Regulus tended to get glazed over for his cousins (all three very beautiful young women) or his renegade brother. Nobody remembered 'the little king'.

After recovering from her initial shock, Hermione continued on talking to herself and ignoring Regulus. "…but that means we're in some sort of demented afterlife…did I really do so many terrible things to deserve hell?" It was possibly in reference for being tied to the chair, although Regulus couldn't be certain.

…_afterlife?_

"Wait!" It had come out louder than intended, but Regulus couldn't contain his surprise. "Afterlife? While you seem to think you are dead, which if Bellatrix took her wand to you is quite likely, I am most definitely not."

Hermione was now entirely focused on Regulus. "But…" she bit her lip. "Where I come from, you _are _dead."

"Merlin!" The realization took away Hermione's breath and she almost knocked herself over in her chair. Once she had steadied, she looked again at Regulus. "Just how old are you?"

Regulus seemed to have the same flash realization that Hermione did. All his mind could come up with through all the jumbled thoughts and processes was one word…_impossible_. He didn't say it aloud however, because he was sure that this snarky witch – whoever she was, would have made some sarcastic and witty comment to rebuke his current lack of a vocabulary.

Instead he opted for a different route. He hated not being in control of the conversation.

"Tell me the date." If nothing else, it would confirm that the two, were in fact on the same page.

"June 16th, 1997."

Hermione could feel her heart beating in her chest as she awaited his next words. It wasn't a question of whether or not the time shift occurred; it was a question of how far in the past she actually was.

"I think if you put November and 1980 in their respective places you will be doing much better."

…_Impossible_.

Hermione blinked once. This was a recipe for disaster. She was supposed to be six feet under, not gallivanting around in the past with a death eater, who just happened to be the brother of her best friend's godfather.

_Sirius…_

What had Sirius said about Regulus? Hermione hadn't thought much about Sirius since he died, because mentioning it to Harry obviously hurt, and it even hurt her (and she hadn't known him near as well as Harry) to think about it. But the one time that Sirius had mentioned Regulus, he had stiffened called him a coward.

Maybe it wouldn't be too long before she ended up where she was 'supposed to be' after all.

The silence settled over the two once again, and neither of them seemed to notice it. Regulus had moved his eyes off of Hermione long ago, and he was looking at the spot where the burning candle had been the night previously. He had never been so confused in his entire life. Only minutes ago, he was wondering what to do with this girl in his study who he believed was obviously some sort of spy or assassin, but now, it was a completely different playing field.

Of course, there were proven cases of time travel, except they were in matters of minutes, and hours. They did not extend to entire years and decades. Which of course, were only really measures of minutes and hours.

As well, there was that small insignificant detail of this girl – whoever she was, being _dead_. Bellatrix wasn't one to foul up on her favourite sport of killing mudbloods.

_Impossible_.

He rubbed his temples. Yesterday had seemed like a bad day.

Regulus looked up when the bushy haired witch attempted to struggle against her bonds to no avail. Who _was_ this girl?

"You seem to have a pretty accurate idea of who I am, which leaves me short…" She looked up, surprised.

"Hermione Granger" she attempted to struggle again. "And I don't know 'all about you', just what Sirius has told me."

There were a few things that Regulus could discern from her words; first she was a muggleborn, because _Granger_ was no wizarding surname that he knew of. Second, she was likely an order member, because anyone who related to Sirius cordially was a part of that crowd. Still, hearing his brother's name in a friendly context threw his slightly.

"You know Sirius, huh." Regulus found it odd to talk about his brother when he spent so much of his time attempting to forget the last words Sirius spoken to him. "Coward" often rung through his ears when he couldn't quite manage to shut it all out. Maybe it was the guilt that made him want to forget it all, or it was something else entirely.

"Yeah," Hermione didn't have the heart to tell him that his brother was dead in her time; however she wasn't sure that Regulus would mind – she wasn't sure if Sirius minded Regulus's death. Of course, Hermione was quite positive that the Sirius of this time was alive and kicking, hard at that. This was too mad to be true…

The awkward silence was broken by Hermione gasping in pain. It was as if someone had dipped her hand in molten lava, and swished it around a little bit. The fire continued to burn, and Hermione's breathing became harsh gasps.

Regulus stood, confused.

"My hand," Hermione said between heavy gasps. She couldn't examine the hand herself however, because someone had expertly tied it behind the chair, out of her view. Her breathing steadied a bit as the initial shock of the pain went away, but it was still throbbing as Regulus carefully walked over to her and picked up her hands.

With the exception of it being extremely dry and wind chapped, Hermione's left had had no signs of any problems. The right however, seemed to be a little different. It was dry and wind chapped as well, although on the back of her hand, bright red words glistened across as if they had been freshly cut.

"_It would be prudent to seek a secret which you should not be seeking for."_

Regulus looked up curiously at the back of Hermione's bushy hair, while she tried to crane her neck around and look. She seemed confused, for Regulus however, it seemed all too familiar.

"I have no idea…" Hermione started to mumble, and then stopped herself. She started again, but stopped herself quickly. "Would you happen to know anything about this?" There were far too many coincidences for everything not to be related in some way.

"That depends." Regulus dropped her hand and moved back to his chair. Hermione scoffed.

"That _depends_?" Regulus couldn't help but smile a little. "That _depends_ on what?"

The dark lord was dangerous; and the dark lord had a terrifying secret. It would be a suicide mission to attempt to discover it, especially if it was something he did not wish to have found. The puzzle was starting to have some semblance a picture, or at least some identifiable pieces.

"Yes it _depends_ on what you can tell me about _this_." Regulus held up the piece of parchment.

'_Closer to cheating death than any other, for I plan to live forever.'_

He heard her breath catch ever so slightly, and for a few moments, there was a tense silence.

"Where did you get that?" Her voice was deadly quiet, and it had some suggestion of an educated guess behind it seeking confirmation.

"The dark lord." All he had done was confirm her suspicions he realized quickly. They both knew that this 'secret' of hers was his riddle, and it was something that didn't require a verbal confirmation. As well, the terrifying realization came to them both that despite everything, their fates were more intertwined than they could have possibly imagined. Neither of them were doubting the reasons for Hermione being in the study now.

Expect the unexpected.

Regulus awoke from his stupor to see the bushy haired witch once again struggling against her bonds. She tugged hopelessly, despite the fact that she knew they probably wouldn't come off.

"Untie me please." Despite the polite phrasing, it wasn't really a request. Regulus raised an eyebrow.

"Why should I?' Hermione glared fiercely, which made her hair, if possible, frizzier.

"I'm fairly certain the piece of parchment put you in a mess which will require my assistance to get you out of."

"And I am 'fairly certain' you need _mine_."

"Then why in the name of merlin do you think I'm going to attack you? Honestly! As far as I can see, we're going to have to trust each other. As unfortunate as it is, we don't really have a choice in the matter." Regulus already, only having a few minutes under his belt with this particular witch, hated to admit she was right. Regrettably, in this case, she was.

He was scowling when he flicked his wand to unite the knots and let the rope slack, she was smiling brightly.

'So," Hermione rubbed her lift wrist tenderly. 'What can you tell me about this parchment?"

Regulus noted duly that she didn't as for her wand back as well. _"Don't push your luck." _Regulus smiled slightly, and continued to twirl the wood.

"The dark lord can be extremely cryptic when he desires. He simply 'requested' that in the given 365 days I discover and obtain the secret on the parchment."

Hermione had obviously been expecting some ridiculously long-winded and wordy explanation. She recovered from her shock quite quickly despite it however.

"What can you tell me about Lord Voldemort, past and present?" Regulus cringed slightly at the use of his full title.

"You tarnish the name of the Dark Lord." It was instinctive of him; centuries of family were drilled into his mind. He surprised even himself by not tacking 'mudblood' onto the end, although, it was in his mind. Hermione simply rolled her eyes.

"I'm call him what I damn well please." Regulus was once again wishing the witch he had gotten was different in personality, but he refrained from further comment.

"Once again, Black, what can you tell me about Voldemort…" She trailed off slightly. "Better yet, what can you tell me about Tom Riddle?"

Regulus stared blankly at Hermione.

She smiled triumphantly.

* * *

Hermione had quite enjoyed explaining the truth about Regulus' hailed dark lord. It gave her some satisfaction to see someone move from one opinion to the other, especially when the person concerned was Lord Voldemort. But what Hermione found most interesting about the whole thing was what Regulus actually told her he had known.

"Well he told us he was a pureblood." Regulus said simply. Hermione had been expecting that, but it felt a little bit weird to put it up as if it was the defining characteristic of whether or not someone was worth your time. "And of course, that he was the most powerful wizard and man in the world, and that if we wanted to survive and maintain our current statuses, allying with him would be 'wise'."

After listening to that extremely lacking explanation, Hermione couldn't help but have a smirk on her face all the way through hers.

She glossed over the first years; beginning with the orphanage, him meeting Dumbledore and then heading off to Hogwarts for the first time. She was also brief in her explanations of the chamber, which seemed to interest Regulus quite greatly.

But then she got to it; her cherry on top of the cake. It was something she had only heard about a month ago, but Hermione would be her life and her cat on it being the truth.

And she really loved Crookshanks.

"…and then he asked Professor Slughorn about _horcruxes_." Hermione paused for some dramatic effect. She enjoyed being in control.

"Hor-what?" Regulus had been listening with rapt attention, and this was one of the few times that he actually interrupted her.

"I'm getting there." Hermione couldn't help but let her smirk grow. "Of course, I'd get there a lot faster if I had my wand back." Hermione was almost ready to let out an evil laugh at this point – she adored having the upper hand, especially against this particular wizard.

Regulus grumbled and handed over the wand hesitantly – he should have seen this coming.

"Now," Hermione pocketed the wand with a swift smile. "A horcrux is an object that contains a part of a soul. You see, if you split your soul and leave on half in an object, should the other half die-"

"You'd still survive." Hermione nodded.

"Now from the memory that was obtained, we know that Voldemort was thinking about splitting his soul in more than one way – namely, the magical number of seven. Which means there are six objects out there that need to be found and destroyed before he can actually be pronounced dead."

Regulus cradled his head in his hands. "Blimey…" He should have known this was going to happen. He should have just said no, and face the consequences of death. He shouldn't have been such a coward.

"So I've got to find…all six of these damn things in less than a year? It can be any object?" This was…impossible.

Hermione nodded again. "Luckily for you, I happen to know what a few of them are." Regulus couldn't believe his ears. For the moment, he could handle her smirk if she could lead him discovery.

"You _do_? How?" Hermione bit her lip. She didn't really want to reveal that she was best friends with Harry Potter (Hermione was quite positive the last name would strike some sort of memory) who was assigned with hunting down Voldemort due to some prophecy by a crackpot which who Hermione had always assumed to be a fraud.

That bedtime story could wait for another time.

"Let's just say I've had some experience with Voldemort." Regulus raised an eyebrow, but didn't comment any further. "I just said I knew _what_ they were; it doesn't mean that I could point them out on a map for you."

"That's a hell of a lot better than where I was before, in case you hadn't noticed." It was Regulus' turn to smirk. Hermione blushed slightly.

"Yes well," it seemed he flustered her a little. "Anyways, all I can tell you, is of the six, we know he used an old diary, a ring that once belonged to Marvolo Gaunt, one of his ancestors. He also attempted to acquire something that once belonged to each of the four founders, although he didn't succeed with obtaining an item of Gryffindor's."

Regulus ticked them off on his fingers. If that was true, then they had five at best. Well, it was better than no ideas and a dark room. "Any idea where we should start?"

For some reason the fact that he used 'we' unsettled him a little bit. He had never been involved in a situation where that really applied. He was always doing things by himself; even when it came to jobs for the death eaters. The last person who had really inclusively used 'we' with Regulus was Sirius, and that was forever ago.

"Well in my time, the diary was in the possession of Lucius Malfoy, so I think that would be the best place to start." Hermione bit her lip again. The 'we' had unnerved her slightly also, but not for the same reason. She had never thought she would have been using the word to mean her and _Regulus Black_. "But I don't think he'd just let us stroll into his manor and search it."

Regulus however, grinned wickedly. "Hermione, Hermione, my _dear_," he hoped in some way she would be affected by his taunt. "While _you_ may not be welcome, I'm sure my cousin would just _love_ to have me visit. As for you, we just need to find some sort of cover so we may get you into the house undetected, and you can freely search it." He was smug; his plan meant his control of it.

Hermione glared. She opened her mouth to say something and closed it.

The door downstairs slammed open. "Oh mistress!" Hermione heard a familiar squeaky voice downstairs. "Would you be liking some tea mistress?"

"Where is that dratted son of mine?" _'Her voice is worse in person,'_ Hermione mused.

"I suspect he is off bathing in street corners or perhaps-" They heard a slap from downstairs.

"Not _him_ you ignorant fool, _Regulus_!" Hermione gritted her teeth. How dare she speak to her house elf like that.

"Oh, Master Regulus is in his study. Would you like me to get him mistress?"

"No, I'll just go speak with him myself. Don't you have some cleaning to do?" The stairs below started to creak. Hermione gave a terrified glance over at Regulus.

"Not quite ready to meet my mother yet?" Hermione could tell he was anxious. "You'd best get in the closet and keep quiet. I need you able, and alive to do this job."

Hermione had paled considerably by the time Regulus shut the door covering her.

* * *

**This update goes out for Indiehippie! Thank you for the review. It may take me a little longer to get out chapter three though, but I'll work on it. (:**

**I'm a little bit iffy about this, but I hope it goes over well. **

'**Till next time;**

**QUITERIE -**


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